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Zingara was originally built as the Kormoran by VEB Schiffwerft of Rostock in 1963, and was typical of many other small freighters from the same period, Giannis D, now at the foot of Abu Nuhas, would have been very similar to Zingara if they had ever been side by side.  Their design put their accommodation, engineering and bridge in a tower located at the rear of the ship with two open holds set forward.  This style of ship is very common these days and comes in all sizes from small freighter to the largest of supertankers and super-carriers.
Her diesel engines had a maximum output of 1365 bhp, making her capable of 12 knots in the right circumstances.
As so often, the Kormoran was sold on by her original owners in 1976 and renamed Adamastos, then sold again to the Montemara di Navigazione in 1980.  They changed her name for the final time, calling her Zingara, a name that translates into English as ‘Gypsy Girl’..
This sea gypsy loaded a bulk cargo of cheap phosphates at Aqaba on 21st August 1994 and promptly struck Laguna Reef on the 22nd.  Judging by the size of the impact crater she was doing as much of her 12-knot top speed as she could possibly manage when she struck, and in such shallow water her bottom would have been ripped out, immediately destroying the integrity of her hull and making it inevitable she would break up quickly as the wind and waves got at her remains.
Divers are usually dropped near her stern, which is the only substantially intact portion of the wreck.  There isn’t much of it left but it still breaks the surface, just, and makes an easy marker for dive-boats.  The rest of the wreck is spread across the reef in a glorious tangle of metal ladders, portholes, deck machinery, bits of superstructure and other, less easily identified, bits of ship.  This is one wreck site regular British wreck divers can instantly relate to.  If the average British wreck were transported to warm blue water  with 30m vis and colourful fish it would look very like the remains of the Zingara. 
Follow the debris field away from the stern towards the south and you immediately come to her intact engine.  Further on the wreckage becomes more general, and you will see portholes in the debris, as well as plates from her hull, showing a construction identical to those of Giannis D.  When you finally reach the bow, still imbedded in a deep crater, you’ll find her original name can still be read.
As she’s so shallow Zingara is often the third dive of the day, and the popular overnight point of Laguna is just minutes away when everyone is safe back on the liveaboard.  Hammerheads can seen in the blue near this area and Zingara is sometimes offered as an alternative to a shark dive in the blue 

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